Evan-four month checkup

 I can't believe this little girl is already four months old.  She's such a sweetheart.

 At her checkup she got three shots.  She cried for maybe five seconds and when I picker her up she was completely fine, not even a single tear!  She wasn't fussy or feverish after them, thank goodness.  Korbyn was always good after shots too.  They just wanted to sleep more, but never fussy or fever.  Her stats at four months:  Head - 42 cm (66%), length - 25.5 in (81%), weight - 19lb 1oz (OFF the charts)!   She is so huge, surpassing Korbyn at this rate for sure.

 This is how she sleeps.  Whenever she starts to get tired, she'll put her hands up behind her head and it's her sign that she's ready for a nap.  She also is already getting attached to her "lambie."  Just like Korbyn's bunny but a little lamb head.  She loves to have a blanket or her lambie in her face when she falls asleep.  I don't let her sleep with it at night because I'm so worried she'll smother herself with it.  She hates tummy time, just like Korbyn and absolutely loves to bounce in her bouncer, she can put those chunky legs to use in that thing. 

 It's crazy how much faster time is flying this time around.  I just want her to slow down!

Mommy weekend

 My two best friends and I went to Fredericksburg for the weekend.  We happened to pick the weekend that my birthday was on, which was fine with me.  We had such a fun and relaxing time!  We went shopping on Main street, hit a couple of wineries and then all piled into bed and watched The Notebook.

 I feel so fortunate to have two friends like these two.  We have been friends since we were three years old.  We all went to grade school together, Yvonne and I went to high school together while Dena went to Dime Box.  Dena and Yvonne went to college together while I was at Concordia.  It's one of those friendships where weeks or months could go by without talking and we can pick up like we just spoke yesterday.

 We were joking that we probably know each other better than our husbands/boyfriend know us...and it's probably true!

I was thinking about Colton and the girls of course all weekend.  SO nervous!  I don't know why I was, Colton knows exactly what he's doing he just gets nervous and second guesses himself.  But he did great of course.  So now I know I can plan more "mommy weekends" ;)

Camping

Last weekend we went on our first camping trip of the year.  Yvonne and Cody had their kids' birthday parties at the lake so we decided that we would stay out there with them.  Although cold and wet, we still managed to have a great time.

This was after Taylen had opened her gifts and of course Korbyn saw kitchen stuff and was happy and content almost the rest of the afternoon playing with it.

Evan couldn't miss out on all the fun!  We bundled her up and she was just as happy as could be, although she's not showing it in this picture.

I always joke with my friend Yvonne that they should move closer to Giddings, and after this weekend I wish they would!  Tye and Korbyn play so well together.  It's funny that even though we're not around each other a lot, we treat each other's kids like they're our own and we do it without thinking or asking each other about it.  I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that we've been friends since we were three ourselves!

I can't wait to go camping more this year!

Camping

Korbyn finally got to test out her new wheels this weekend when we went camping.  I love living in the country but when you don't have any pavement to ride your new bike on, it's almost torture for a three year old!  She is amazingly fast and good on that bike.

The weather was nice, a little cool and windy on Saturday but so nice to be outside.  Sunday we were packing up as the cool front came in, we left just as it started to rain.

We're debating on getting a new camper or not.  The one we have now is great, just not kid friendly.  Once one kid is asleep, everyone is pretty much banned from going inside.  We're looking for one that has a bunkhouse in the back where the kids can have their own space.  But they are not cheap.  Colton and I discussed it and we're both fine with spending that kind of money on it because we love to go camping and we know that we'll get our use out of it, it's not just going to sit unused.  But, we're also still looking to build or buy a house and any extra payment right now just doesn't seem very smart.  Who knows!  I do know this though, we LOVE to go camping and so does Korbyn.  When we drove up to the house today she saw the camper outside and she said "I just love the camper."  

Christmas

Fall

Monday night I was getting the girls ready for a bath.  I undress and dress Evan on the bathroom counter, just like I did with Korbyn when she was a baby.  I have a thick towel folded where I lay her and of course never leave her there by herself.  The counter is right next to the toilet.  I was standing in front of Evan playing with her waiting for Korbyn to get undressed.  I turn my body for a second to lift Korbyn onto the toilet and as I do I hear a "thud."  I immediately know before turning around what happened.  I look on the counter and Evan wasn't there, I look down and she's laying face down on the floor crying.  I just stand there and start screaming at the top of my lungs and can't even move my body.  Colton comes running into the bathroom and picks her up immediately.  I've lost it.  I'm shaking and sobbing and screaming. 

We immediately start getting ready to go to the emergency room.  I call my mom and she comes to our house to watch Korbyn.  By now Evan has stopped crying and she seems to be fine, just sleepy but it was her bed time so we weren't concerned about her falling asleep.  I of course am a mess.  At one point Colton looked at me and said "Abby, you've got to get it together!"  I couldn't.  I felt like the absolute scum of the earth, worst mother of the century award right here!  I felt like I was going to vomit.  My mom was telling me that I fell out of a shopping cart and I was just fine and that it happens all the time.  Even the nurses and the doctors were telling me that it happens all the time.  In my head I knew that this happens all of the time, but no one can prepare you for when it happens to your baby.

Once we get in the car I call the hospital where we delivered and tell them the situation and ask if they're equipped for pediatrics or if we should head to Dell Children's in Austin.  The nurse told me that they do and to head this way.  A few minutes later my phone rings and it's the emergency nurse I just spoke with.  She called us back and gave the phone to the charge nurse.  He told me that they will gladly take a look at her but for her age and the height of the fall it was considered a trauma and she needs to be taken to a trauma hospital and that we may want to call an ambulance to meet us.  When I hang up the phone I lose it again.  Having someone actually tell me that my infant falling was considered a trauma was too much.  Colton turned on his flashers and drove about 85 while I was shaking in the back seat next to Evan all the way there.

Once we get in the hospital we get triaged within a few minutes, even though the waiting room was so full we couldn't even find a place to sit.  They take us back to do a CT scan almost immediately.  Having to strap my baby down and watch her from behind a glass door in a separate room while she was in a huge room all by herself was torture (I'm actually crying right now as I'm writing about it!).  Well wouldn't you know this little girl was talking and cooing the entire time.  Even before she was done with the CT scan the x-ray technician was waiting to walk us across the hall.  They had Colton wear a lead vest and help hold her down with a tech while another one took the x-rays.  She didn't like that.  She started crying, the poor thing had had enough.  They take us back to our room and we just wait.  I'm sure it was only about 10 minutes but at the time I swear we were in there for an hour.  The doctor came in and said everything looks great.  We needed to watch her closely for 24 hours and wake her every two hours but we could go home and she was going to be OK.  When the doctor walked out Colton let out a huge sigh and bent over and put his hands on his knees and just sat there.  I finally asked him if he was alright.  He said "I'm not going to lie.  I was worried as hell but knew I had to keep it together for you."  This is why I love this man.  Even though I may be going crazy he is my rock, always has and always will.  Needless to say I will NEVER place her on the bathroom counter again or any other surface where she could even possibly roll off!  That was an awful experience and hope I never have to go through that again.

Life with a full time job and two kids

Exhausted.  That's what its like.

My day starts at 4:45 a.m. and is literally nonstop until 9 p.m.  The absolutely only time I have to myself is my conference period from 10:35-11:35 each day.  And that's usually filled with contacting parents, meetings, or getting things ready in my classroom.  But the days that I don't have anything for that hour is sweet bliss! 

I'm writing this post because one day in the far future I want to read it and remember how tired and worn out I felt every day.  I also want my kids to read it and know how hard Colton and I worked for them.  I'm sure when I look back I'll say to myself "it wasn't that bad."  But now...right now...I feel like I can't keep my head above water!  It's madness!  But I kind of like it.

My day is filled with children ALL DAY.  If you've ever been around kids you know that they're exhausting.  I now have 20 kindergartners who keep me on my toes all day.  I'm still not sure how I ended up with all of these lovely (but oh so challenging) kids.  A normal classroom has one or two desks that are separated from the rest of the class because those desks belong to kids who can't keep their hands to themselves, get too distracted by everything going on etc.  Well I have six of those desks, that's right...SIX.  I feel like the majority of the day I'm just trying to keep them in order, but I guess that's kindergarten.  I do know that they're much better since I've been back.  I've had multiple unannounced sit ins from the vice principal and principal this week to check up on them.  They've told me that I'm doing a great job and the class looks SO much better.  So that makes me feel awesome of course!

I do feel a little guilt for not being able to spend all day with my own babies though.  I don't get to spend much time with them during the week, only a few hours in the evening.  But somehow it makes the time that I do spend with them so much more special.  My house is an absolute wreck, and I don't even care.  I'm on the verge of hiring someone to come in and keep it clean and picked up because it's just that bad.  When I'm home, all of my attention is given to my kids and that will NEVER change.

I keep my mom's words in my head constantly, "this time of your life is crunch time, but it won't last forever."